A teacher needs to explore their educational philosophies. This will be achieved with the growth of a teacher and their experiences. Children recognise firm, fair teachers. A teacher should be friendly, with a calm approach. A teacher must work hard, making sure that lessons are conducted to a high level. It is essential for children to have a balanced education, opportunities should not just be the core subjects but varied arts, languages and sports. This allows students to excel outside conventional restrictions. Strong emphasis should be placed on the development of the individual student’s learning potential through various challenges, reflection, use of lateral thinking and inquiry based learning skills.

The school and classroom environment needs to be stimulating, A classroom needs always to be colourful and child centred. High, yet achievable outcomes for students should be set and teachers should encourage students to reflect on their own learning through self and peer assessment tasks. A learning journal system is an excellent method to record assessment work, goals and rubrics. This system is a successful method of child documentation. The learning journal is visual proof of a child’s learning and can been used within a 3 way parent-teacher-student interview. This concept is connected to the Quality in Schools teaching and learning tools which I have used at James Cook Primary School.